Screw top container



Jan. 14, 1947. H. SEBELL scREw TOP CONTAINER Filed Ju1y122, 1944 SEALED JI IN V EN TOR. H vf 5,2 be( i lgs/MMM Arrows Patented Jan. 14, 1,947

SCREW TOP CONTAINER Harry Schell, Marblehead, Mass., assignor to Bell Products Corporation, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application `luly 22, 1944, Serial No. 546,075

(Cl. 21d-43,)

1 Claim.

This invention relates to screw top containers, and it hasior its object to provide a novel means for indicating whether the container is in its original sealed condition or whether it has been opened with the consequent breaking of the seal.

Many food products are now put up in glass containers havngscrew tops, and these products are often vacuum packed, in which case the vacuum packed condition will be retained so long as the original seal is unbroken, but will be lost as soon as the container has been opened by removal of the cap.

The screw top containers now in common use have no means of indicating whether or not the container is in its original Vacuum packed condition or whether the container has been opened and then closed again by applying the screw cap thereto, so that when the consumer purchases a filled container of this type from his retailer or grocer, he has no way of telling whether the package is actually in its original vacuum packed condition or whether it has been surreptitiously opened and then closed again.

The present invention provides a novel and simple means for giving this desired information so that a mere inspection of the package will indicate to the purchaser whether or not the package has been opened or is still in its original vacuum packed condition.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a transverse section through a, container embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side View of the cap removed together with the telltale member before it is assembled with the cap.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side view of a glass container which is sealed with my improved sealing l means.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional View on an enlarged scale showing the manner in which the telltale member is distorted.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section through the top of the container.

In the drawing l indicates the body of the container which may be of glass or any other suitable material, and 2 is the screw cap, which may conveniently be made of sheet metal. The body l is provided at its upper end with an exterior screw thread 3, and the cap 2 is provided with the usual skirt portion l which is provided with interior screw threads 5 to lit the screw thread 3 on the body as usual in screw top containers.

My invention contemplates the employment of a novel visible indicating member which is carposition on the cap after the container has been iilled and sealed and until the cap is removed for opening the container. The operation of removing the cap either breaks the indicating member loose therefrom, or crumples it up and distorts it so that when the cap is again applied to the container, it will either be minus the indicating member or will show a crumpled or distorted indicating member. The indicating member thus constitutes a telltale member to indicate whether the container is in its original vacuum packed condition or has been opened.

In the present embodiment of my invention, the skirt 4 of the cap 2 is provided with an eX- tension 6 which has a somewhat larger diameterv than the portion of the container body I that it encircles. This skirt extension 6 has an opening 'l formed therein, preferably an elongated opening, said opening being so formed as to present in one end wall a prong or sharp projection 8.

The telltale indicating member is shown at 9, and this may be made of cardboard or any other material which can be easily crumpled or distorted. This telltale member 9 has a larger dimension both horizontally and vertically than the opening 'I as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. The telltale member is secured to the skirt extension 6 in such a way that it is visible through the window opening 1, and the portion of such indicating member 9 as is visible through the opening l may have any suitable indicia imprinted thereon, such for instance, as the word Sealed In the construction herein shown the indicating member 9 is retained in position by the prong 8, the latter being inserted through one end of the indicating member 9 and then bent back on itself as indicated in Fig. 1.

The indicating member 9 is thus supported at one end, the other end ID thereof being a free end and normally being separated somewhat from the interior face of the skirt extension 6 so that it rests against the container body l. This indicating member 9 is so secured in place that the free end IIJ thereof points in the opposite direction from that in which the cap is turned when it is applied to the container, in other words, said free end points in the direction in which the cap is turned when it is being unscrewed or removed vfrom the container.

The portion of the body I of the container which is located within the skirt extension 6 is provided with a shoulder Il which faces in the direction in which the cap is turned when it is 3 applied to the container. This shoulder may be provided for in various ways, but as herein shown the container body is formed with a lug or projection I2 shaped to present the shoulder II.-

The cap 2 is illustrated as being provided with the usual packing member I3 which by its engagement with the top edge of the container produce's a tight joint when the cap is screwed tightly to the container.

When the cap is being applied to the container for sealing the latter and is being turned in the direction of the arrow a, the bent-over prong 8 and the indicating member 9 will wipe by time lug or projection I2, and when the cap has been screwed tightly to the container the telltale indicating member 9 will be in the position shown in Fig. 1 with its free end I0 resting against the exterior surface of the container and with the notation on the said member visible through the opening l. Y t

When the cap is turned backwardly or in the direction of the arrow b for opening the container,the free end IIJ of the telltale member 9 will' it will have been disengaged from the prong 8;

In either case, when the cap is again applied to the container, the crumpled, torn or distorted condition of the telltale member or its absence will indicate that the'cap has been removed from the container since it was originally sealed.

The advantage of the construction illustrated wherein the telltale member is larger than the opening or window 1 is that one cannot insert a pin or other similar small instrument intothe opening and around the edge of the indicating member at its free end for the purpose kof moving it away from the container sufficiently to a1- low it to pass the shoulder I I.

I claim:

. A screw top container comprising a container body having exterior screw threads at its upper end, a cap for sealing the container body having a skirt portion provided with screw threads to iit those of the body, said skirt portion having a 'skirt extension below the screw threads, which Yskirt extension is provided with an opening, and

a telltale indicating member of cardboard which is secured to the inside of the skirt extension at one end of the opening thereof Yand in position to be seen through said opening, said indicating member having a width dimension greater than that of the opening and also having its free end extending beyond the corresponding end of the opening whereby the marginal edge of the indicating member overlaps the edge of the opening on all sides, said container body having a shoulder facing in the direction in which the cap is turned when it is applied to the body and adapted to be engaged by the free end ofthe telltale member when the cap is unscrewed, the engagement of said free end with said shoulder serving to crumple and distort the telltale member.

HARRY SEBELL. 

